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Gauteng Health won’t blacklist non-compliant companies

The Gauteng Health Department will not blacklist the 12 non-compliant companies that got R381 million in contracts from Gauteng hospitals in the last three years.

I asked Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko whether her department would blacklist these companies, and she responded in a written reply:

“A company can only be prevented from doing business with the Department if the
the matter has been investigated and if the investigation report recommends that the
the company must be prevented from doing business with the Department.

The 12 companies are linked to Mr Hangwani Morgan Maumela, a nephew by marriage to President Cyril Ramaphosa. In her previous reply, Nkomo-Ralehoko said “none of the listed companies has SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) approval for the sale of medical products”, and she blamed “inadequate processes and oversight.”

The companies got R36 million from Tembisa Hospital last year, amongst many payments that murdered Babita Deokaran identified as “possibly fraudulent”.

Maumela has been identified as a central figure in the Tembisa Hospital purchases that Babita flagged. He is reported to have ties with Bejani Chauke, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s chief political advisor.

My view is we don’t need to wait for the conclusion of a lengthy investigation as it is already admitted that the companies were not compliant in various ways and should not have got the contracts.

Quick scrutiny shows outrageous overcharging e.g. Tembisa Hospital paid R456 960 for 50 stainless steel kidney dishes. This amounts to more than R9000 a dish!

Another example is 50 flat-bottomed round bowls bought for R496 555.

This price gouging should surely disqualify companies from any further contracts.

Hospital patients suffer most when huge amounts of money are wasted on fishy companies that grossly inflate the prices of goods.

I will continue to press for a freeze on all new contracts with non-compliant companies that charge ripoff prices

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Gauteng Sports And Recreation Racks Up R194 Million In Irregular Expenditure

Irregular Expenditure

The Gauteng Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture (SRAC) incurred R194 million in irregular expenditure during the 2015/16 financial year, as mentioned in its annual report.

According to the Auditor General of South Africa (AG), effective steps were not taken by the department’s financial officer to prevent this irregular expenditure.

The AG also noted in its report to the department the following:

  • Financial statements submitted for auditing were not in accordance with the regulations of the Public Financial Management Act;
  • Effective steps were not taken to prevent unauthorised expenditure amounting to R12,8 million;
  • Goods and services with a transaction value above R500 000 were procured without following proper procedures;
  • The head of department did not perform adequate oversight over financial reporting, compliance with legislation and related internal controls;
  • Management did not identify areas of non-compliance in supply chain management regulations due to a lack of training and understanding; and
  • There are various investigations in progress relating to procurement irregularities, fraud, theft and negligence within the department.

Sports MEC Faith Mazibuko

The annual financial statements of the department clearly shows SRAC is unable to manage its finances.

Further to this, SRAC, underspent its budget by over R90 million, which could and should have been spent on recreation and sporting facilities, library materials and sporting kits for disadvantaged teams.

Sports MEC Faith Mazibuko has a responsibility to ensure sound financial management practices are in place to prevent further financial losses.

 

Media enquiries:

Kingsol Chabalala MPL

DA Gauteng Spokesperson on Sport, Recreation, Arts, Culture and Heritage 

060 558 8299

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Dismal Human Resource Management In Gauteng Provincial Government

Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation

The Gauteng Provincial Government scored only 31% in Human Resource Management according to its own assessment using the Management Performance Assessment Tool (MPAT) of the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency.

This was revealed yesterday at a meeting of the Oversight Committee on the Premier’s Office and Legislature (OCPOL) in the Gauteng Legislature.

The latest MPAT is the fourth assessment since 2011 and covers 2014/15.

The scale used for assessment is as follows:

  • Level 1: Non-compliance with legal/regulatory requirements
  • Level 2: Partial compliance with legal/regulatory requirements
  • Level 3: Full compliance with legal/regulatory requirements
  • Level 4: Full compliance and doing things smartly

Catastrophic Declines

There has been a steady improvement over the years, but the overall assessment is still low at 2.72 which means that there is not full compliance with legal/regulatory requirements.

The highest score was achieved for Strategic Management at 71%, and the lowest Human Resource Management at 31% compliance.

There were catastrophic declines in the following areas:

HR Planning (-86%), Disciplinary cases (-100%), Performance Management (-86%) and Employee Wellness (-85%).

Other areas where there were low levels of compliance include the following:

  • Governance of  Information and Communication Technology (ICT) – this is amongst the lowest scoring area, on average, across all provincial departments
  • Supply chain management and control of irregular and fruitless and wasteful expenditure, as well as expenditure control
  • Performance monitoring and evaluation
  • Risk management and mitigation

The Office of the Premier

The Office of the Premier is giving priority attention to the above areas as “good management practice is a precondition (get the basics right) for effective, sustainable service delivery.”

The overall poor management assessment reflects the mess that Premier David Makhura took over from former Premier Nomvula Mokonyane.

A common example is disciplinary cases that take far too long, with millions spent on suspension with pay.

It is important that improvement continue in all areas of management in the Provincial government which currently fails in too many areas.

 

Media enquiries:

Jack Bloom MPL

DA Member of the Oversight Committee on the Premier’s Office and Legislature (OCPOL)

082 333 4222

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Scrap E-tolls: The Only ‘Dispensation’ That Works

Unfair and Unjust SystemJohn Moodey DA Gauteng Provincial Leader

Today Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to announce more ways to pay for e-tolls, instead of scrapping them altogether – despite the fact that less and less road users are willing to pay for this unfair and unjust system.

According to the National Department of Transport, since January there has been a dramatic drop in the number of people registering for e-tolls, as well as a steady decline in revenue collected.

This disproves the assertion by Premier Makhura and the e-toll review panel that people are not fundamentally opposed to paying tolls on Gauteng’s highways.

People are feeling the financial crunch of increases in municipal rates, electricity, petrol and income tax, and are simply not willing or able to pay e-tolls.

Stealth Methods to Pay for E-Tolls

Instead of scrapping e-tolls altogether, the ANC’s response is to introduce stealth methods hidden in licensing and other fees to force people to pay.

The fact is that the e-tolls system does not have the ability to cope and deal with debt collection, and the introduction of the hybrid model will further complicate an unsustainable system.

So while the economies of Gauteng and the country are reeling from the effects, and unemployment spirals out of control, Deputy President Ramaphosa and Premier Makhura are standing at a crossroad today.

They could act in the interests of the poor and working class by scrapping e-tolls altogether, or open a Pandora’s Box of civil disobedience and non-compliance on a scale never seen before.

The choice is theirs, and the consequences will be felt at the polls in 2016.

 

Media enquiries:

John Moodey MPL

DA Gauteng Provincial Leader

082 960 3743

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